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A review by maries_bookverse
Dina's Book by Herbjørg Wassmo
5.0
2. read:
Dina’s book still deserves 5 stars!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When I read this book for the first time, I actually went to middle school (!) and was quite young - it was still a book that left deep traces: I loved it. I loved every part of it. I loved Dina, how brave she is. How naturalistic the author has written the story. How dark everything in the story is. All the complicated relationships.
I thought the book deserved to be read again - but from a slightly more mature perspectiv - I also got more out of the story this time.
__________________________
1. read:
5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A dark, beautiful and twistedly dangerous book with a story so raw and unforgettable that when I finished reading the last page, I felt a kind of sadness at not being able to look further into the characters' mindsets and lives.
Dina's book is one of the darkest and strongest books I have ever read, and with a uniquely engaging protagonist that takes you on a roller coaster of emotions; anger, tenderness, pain, sadness, worry, irritation, awkwardness, disgust. Happiness. Imprinted me with wisdom and insight into how complex and complicated a personality can become and how a gloomy, painful childhood shapes one's future. Also, Dina's book shows how a trauma becomes quicksand that sticks, without the ability to come loose, the traumas freezes the body to ice from the inside and out, experienced again and again. Impossible to move on from.
The story takes place in the 1860s. Dina experiences a trauma as a child - she accidentally kills her mother by being the cause of a tub with lye ending up over her mother; skin melts into porridge and she dies. The scream is something Dina never forgets and it haunts her like a ghost and shapes Dina for the rest of her life. Then, her father gives her away as a child bride to an old family friend - Dina becomes a housewife at Reinsnes. Already in the first pages of the book, you realize that Dina brings death to many people she meets on her way.
Following Dina's erratic nature is exciting. Nerve-wracking. I really love this character. You never know what she's going to do next. Dina has such strong contradictions in herself that make her a dangerous person. On the outside, she seems strong as a antiheroine. Inside, her psyche is as fragile as glass. Fury lies and trembles at the bottom of all her emotions, in everything from desire to tenderness for those she cares about. When Dina enters a room, she gets everyone's gaze on her - whether she wants to or not - she has a magnetic attraction. It gives her power - and she knows how to exploit it, is manipulative and relentless.
Dina is a feminist female figure who dares to speak straight from the liver - something that was very unconventional behavior for a woman in the 1800's - she also refuses to be submissive to a man, dresses as she likes; whether it is in skirts or in trousers. In terms of interest, she delves into the world of men. Dina plays cello, hunts, smokes cigars, rides a horse in a man's way, she is concerned with finances and takes on the role as a husband - she doesn’t allow herself to be poked on the nose by the dominant male culture she lives in.
Herbjørg Wassmo writes strong and realistic women's literature that moves into realism with Dina's Book The story of Dina is portrayed in northern Norwegian surroundings - Wassmo really excels with her lush depictions of place and environment. The atmosphere is cold, brutal and realistic. Gives chills.
It is an extensive diverse gallery of characters. Many names and different, complicated relationships. But Wassmo's beautiful, exciting descriptions of them, make you remember everyone anyway. The dialogues in northern Norwegian are fantastically lively. The sentences that are said between the characters burn from mouth to mouth, it is as if they are standing in the same room as you and conversing.
The book really made an impression on me, becoming a ghost of insight to bring along. I read it for the first time when I went to middle school and I felt I peeked into a universe I was not really old enough to see and understand. Dina really screwed with my feelings - I had never read anything like that raw and brutally and honest. Dina immediately became a role model who both comforted me and also scared the crap out of me.
Dina's book burned into my memory and took my breath away. Made my skin cold and hot at the same time. Became a scar that breaths fire into my soul - Still, I know I must read this book again.
Dina’s book still deserves 5 stars!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When I read this book for the first time, I actually went to middle school (!) and was quite young - it was still a book that left deep traces: I loved it. I loved every part of it. I loved Dina, how brave she is. How naturalistic the author has written the story. How dark everything in the story is. All the complicated relationships.
I thought the book deserved to be read again - but from a slightly more mature perspectiv - I also got more out of the story this time.
__________________________
1. read:
5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A dark, beautiful and twistedly dangerous book with a story so raw and unforgettable that when I finished reading the last page, I felt a kind of sadness at not being able to look further into the characters' mindsets and lives.
Dina's book is one of the darkest and strongest books I have ever read, and with a uniquely engaging protagonist that takes you on a roller coaster of emotions; anger, tenderness, pain, sadness, worry, irritation, awkwardness, disgust. Happiness. Imprinted me with wisdom and insight into how complex and complicated a personality can become and how a gloomy, painful childhood shapes one's future. Also, Dina's book shows how a trauma becomes quicksand that sticks, without the ability to come loose, the traumas freezes the body to ice from the inside and out, experienced again and again. Impossible to move on from.
The story takes place in the 1860s. Dina experiences a trauma as a child - she accidentally kills her mother by being the cause of a tub with lye ending up over her mother; skin melts into porridge and she dies. The scream is something Dina never forgets and it haunts her like a ghost and shapes Dina for the rest of her life. Then, her father gives her away as a child bride to an old family friend - Dina becomes a housewife at Reinsnes. Already in the first pages of the book, you realize that Dina brings death to many people she meets on her way.
Following Dina's erratic nature is exciting. Nerve-wracking. I really love this character. You never know what she's going to do next. Dina has such strong contradictions in herself that make her a dangerous person. On the outside, she seems strong as a antiheroine. Inside, her psyche is as fragile as glass. Fury lies and trembles at the bottom of all her emotions, in everything from desire to tenderness for those she cares about. When Dina enters a room, she gets everyone's gaze on her - whether she wants to or not - she has a magnetic attraction. It gives her power - and she knows how to exploit it, is manipulative and relentless.
Dina is a feminist female figure who dares to speak straight from the liver - something that was very unconventional behavior for a woman in the 1800's - she also refuses to be submissive to a man, dresses as she likes; whether it is in skirts or in trousers. In terms of interest, she delves into the world of men. Dina plays cello, hunts, smokes cigars, rides a horse in a man's way, she is concerned with finances and takes on the role as a husband - she doesn’t allow herself to be poked on the nose by the dominant male culture she lives in.
Herbjørg Wassmo writes strong and realistic women's literature that moves into realism with Dina's Book The story of Dina is portrayed in northern Norwegian surroundings - Wassmo really excels with her lush depictions of place and environment. The atmosphere is cold, brutal and realistic. Gives chills.
It is an extensive diverse gallery of characters. Many names and different, complicated relationships. But Wassmo's beautiful, exciting descriptions of them, make you remember everyone anyway. The dialogues in northern Norwegian are fantastically lively. The sentences that are said between the characters burn from mouth to mouth, it is as if they are standing in the same room as you and conversing.
The book really made an impression on me, becoming a ghost of insight to bring along. I read it for the first time when I went to middle school and I felt I peeked into a universe I was not really old enough to see and understand. Dina really screwed with my feelings - I had never read anything like that raw and brutally and honest. Dina immediately became a role model who both comforted me and also scared the crap out of me.
Dina's book burned into my memory and took my breath away. Made my skin cold and hot at the same time. Became a scar that breaths fire into my soul - Still, I know I must read this book again.